Fabric seam rubber



Jan. 15, 1935. R. J. HOLMES 1,988,172

FABRIC sBAM RUBBER Filed May 15, 1933 5 30 21 J a fio r ng Patented Jan. 15, 1935 UNITED STATES rarer OFFICE FABRIC SEAM RUBBER Raymond J. Holmes, Lynn,

Boston Machine Works Company,

Mass, assignor to Lynn, Mass,

'7 Claims.

The present invention relates to seam-pressing machines and more particularly to that'type thereof which is used inthe manufacture of shoes to rub, without staying, seams,'such for instance, as the back seams joining the quarters of mens shoes and the back seams joining the leather linings of womens shoes.

Another kind of seam required to be rubbedin the manufacture of shoes is the back seam joining quarters composed of fabric, such, for instance, as satin. In the P tent No. 1,929,380, October 3, 1933, there is disclosed a seam rubbing machine which is used extensively in the shoe industry to rub, without staying, the seamridge formed in joining two pieces of leather. A characteristic feature or this machine is the fin on the hammer which steps upon the seamridge while it is confined laterally, but unsupported from below, to set the seam-crease firmly into engagement with the peripheral surface of the work support. As Well known to those skilled in the art the flaps of the seam-ridge which project freely beyond the seam joining the quarters are much wider in fabric quarters than in leather quarters.

The principal object of the present invention is to produce a seam-pressing machine which will rub not only a seam-ridge formed by joining two leather pieces, but also a seam-ridge formed by joining a pair of fabric pieces, in an efiicient manner.

To the accomplishment of this object, and such others as may appear hereinafter, the various features of the present invention reside in certain devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter described and then pointed out broadly and in detail in the appended claims, possessing advantages readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

The various features of the present invention will be understood readily from an inspection of the accompanying drawing illustrating the best form of the invention at present devised, in which,

Figure 1 is a View in left sideelevation of the seam-rubbing machine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail View in left side elevation, the hammer and the seam rubber being in the positions they assume upon their initial engagement with the work;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail View in sectional elevation of the seam-ridge guides and the seamcrease guide, on the line 3-3, 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail view in sectional elevation of two of the seam-ridge guides;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail view in sectional elevation on the line 5--5, Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail view in perspective of the hammer;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged detail view in sectional elevation on the line '7 -7, Fig. 2;

Fig. 8 is a detail view in perspective of a pair of fabric shoe quarters sewed together;

Fig. 9 is a detail view in end elevation showing the fabric quarters opened up preparatory to inserting them into the machine, and

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail view in bottom plan of the seam-ridge guide operating intermediate the lateral seam-ridge guides;

The illustrated embodiment of the present invention operates upon work pieces composed either of leather or of fabric. For the purpose of disclosure the work piece is illustrated as comprising two fabric quarters 11 and 12 (Fig. 8) which are sewed together by a curved line of stitches, concentric to the adjacent edges, forming a seam 13. The quarters are opened up (Fig. 9) to present a seam-ridge 14 on the convex face of the work and a seam-crease 15 on the concave face of the work. The seam-ridge 14 comprises the flaps 16 and 17 which extend in face to face contact above the seam 13.

In the machine the work is supported upon a roll 18 for the operation of a seam-presser or hammer 19 and a heated seam-setting or rubbing tool 20 which may have the same relative modes of operation as the corresponding parts disclosed either in the patent to Staples, 1,234,950, July 31, 1917, or the patent to Osgood, 1,928,654, October 3, 1933. In either event, the hammer 19 operates in a four-motion cycle moving substantially vertically to press the seam-ridge, horizontally to the left (Fig. 1) to feed the work, vertically to leave the work, and horizontally back to the right (Fig. 1) tocomplete the cycle.

In order to present the seam-ridge properly to the work support 18, the machine is provided with a guide 21 engaged in the seam-crease 15, guides 22 and 23 (Fig. 3) which embrace the seam-ridge 14 just above the seam 13 but below the free end edge faces of the flaps i6 and 1'7, respectively, and a guide 24 which, when the work piece comprises two pieces of leather joined by a seam and opened up to present an upstanding seam-ridge on one face of the work and a seam-crease on the other face of the work, engages the free end edge face of the upstanding seam-ridge. The guide 24, when the workpiece comprises the fabric quarters 11 and i2, acts as a flapseparator which separates the flaps l6 and 17 and spreads them apart to expose that portion of the seam-ridge 14 which is embraced by the guides 22 and 23.

The seam-crease guide 21 is secured by a screw 25 (Fig. 1) to a post 26 carried by the frame of the machine. The free end or" the guide 21 terminates close to the work support 18. Near its free end the guide is provided with a horizontal portion 27 having a beveled edge (Fig. 3) for engagement in the seam-crease.

The seam-crease guides 22 and 23 are each provided with a narrow, elongated seam-ridge engaging face 28 which is separated from an inwardly sloping face 29 by a narrow ledge 30 (Fig. 3) The guides 22 and 23 project rearwardly from the lower ends of vertical levers 31 and 32 (Fig. 3), which are pivoted, respectively, on pins 33 and 34 bridging a recess 35 formed in a block 36. The block is formed upon the lower end of a rod 37 mounted to slide yieldingly vertically in bearings 38 and 39 (Fig. 1) in the manner explained more fully in my Patent No. 1,929,380, October 3, 1953.

As shown particularly in Fig. 3 the upper ends of the levers 31 and 32 are engaged and held apart by the face of a frusto-conical collar 40 loosely carried by the rod 37 above the block 36. The frusto-conical collar 40 is held in engagement with the upper ends of the levers 31 and 32 by a spring 41 coiled about the rod 37 and interposed between the collar 40 and a knurled adjusting nut 42 threaded on the rod 37. The nut 42 is held in any desirable position of adjustment by one end of a leaf spring 43 the other end of which is yoked and secured by the screw 44 (Fig. 1) and the screw 45 (Fig. 4) to the front face of the block 36. With this construction the seamridge guides 22 and 23 are normally pressed together by the downward pressure of the frusto: conical collar 40. The extent to which the seamridge guides 22 and 23 assume a closed position is limited by the stops 46 and 47 carried, respectively, by the levers 31 and 32.

The guide 24 is provided with a thin nose 49 (Figs. 1, 2 and 4) extending forwardly and downwardly to provide a narrow passage for the work between the seam-crease guide 21 and the bottom of the nose 49. Rearwardly the bottom edge of the nose 49 emerges into a rearwardly extending straight edge 50 (Fig. 4) normally arranged in the same horizontal plane as the ledges 30 on the seam-ridge guides 22 and 23. The edge 50 is the arris formed by the downwardly converging faces 51 and 52 (Fig. 3) which flare rearwardly from the rear end of the nose 49. As shown in Fig. 3 the portion of the guide 24 extending rearwardly from the rear end of the nose 49 is triangular in cross-section. As shown in Fig. 10 the arris 50 and the downwardly converging faces 51 and 52 which form it, terminate at points spaced from the rear end of the guide 24. From these points to its rear end the guide 24 is flattened and slopes slightly downwardly and rearwardly for a purpose presently to be described. The guide 24 is formed on the lower end of a block 53 mounted to slide vertically in a way 54 formed in the front face of the block 36 in between the yoked-arms of the leaf spring 43. The front face of the block 53 is provided with a vertical slot 55 which receives a screw 56 in order that the block 53 may be secured in adjusted position to the block 36.

After the fabric quarters are opened up as shown in Fig. 9, the nose 49 is introduced between the flaps 16 and 1'7 of the seam-ridge and the seam-crease is engaged with the seam-crease guide 21. The work is pushed into the machine so that as the seam-ridge moves rearwardly the guides 22 and 23 embrace the opposite sides thereof just above the seam 13 to maintain the lower portion of the seam-ridge only in an upstanding condition with the inside faces of the lower portions of the flaps pressed together and to confine the sides of the seamridge to a predetermined path. The guides 22 and 23 under the influence of the seam-ridge, move laterally to accommodate themselves to the thickness of the seam-ridge. These lateral movements of the guides 22 and 23, although they are unconnected, are mutual so that the median lines of the seam-ridges inserted successively into the machine are all in the same vertical plane notwithstanding variations in their thicknesses. At the same time the external sides of the seam-ridge just above the seam 13 are engaged by the guides 22 and 23, the upper portions of the inside faces of the flaps 16 and 17 are engaged by the downwardly converging faces 51 and 52 of the guide 24 which turn the flaps outwardly upon the sloping faces 29, (Fig. 3). The seam-ridge is pushed through the space bounded by the guides 21, 22, 23 and 24 until the leading end of the seam-ridge projects, unsupported from below, beyond the free end of the seam-crease guide 21 and the fiat rear end of the guide 24 which holds the separated flaps 16 and 17 in a spread apart condition. At this point a fin 57 projecting forwardly from the hammer 19 into the space between the guides 22 and 23, which confine the lower portion of the leading end of the seam-ridge laterally, steps upon the seamridge. The fin 57 has a Width narrower than the thickness of that portion of the seam-ridge embraced by the guides 22 and 23 but wider than the joint between the contacting faces of the flaps 16 and 1'7 so that when the fin 5'7 steps on the unsupported seam-ridge it forms a groove therein and displaces the material directly under the groove to set the seam-crease firmly into engagement with the peripheral siuface of the work support 18.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the guide 24 does not fold the flaps 16 and 17 outwardly from the seam 13 as a base and therefore does not perform the function of a plow. The function of the converging faces 51 and 52 on the guide 24 is to separate the fabric flaps 16 and 17 to enable the fin 57 to reach and operate upon that portion of the seam-ridge, just above the seam 13, which is embraced by the guides 22 and 23. The bottom of the groove formed by the fin 57 in the laterally confined portion of the seam-ridge is separated from the seam 13 by sufficient stock to prevent the fin 57 reaching and breaking the seam 13.

When. a leather Work piece, such for instance, as leather quarters joined to form an upstanding seam-ridge, is inserted into the machine the space between the guides 21 and 24 permits the upstanding seam-ridge to pass therethrough without engagement with the nose 49 and the converging faces 51 and 52 of the guide 24. The free end edge face of the upstanding leather seam-ridge is, however, engaged by the flattened rear end of the guide 24 which, because of its slight downward and rearward slope, imparts suflicient pressure to the seam-ridge to maintain the seam-crease engaged with the seam-crease guide 21. Thus, the guide 24 constitutes a guide for the free end edge face of a leather seamridge and a combined guide, fiap separator and fiap spreader, for a fabric seam-ridge. With this construction the fin '7 steps on the seamridge at the same point, relative to the seam connecting fabric and leather work pieces.

The work engaging face of the fin 57 is roughened so that when the hammer 19 is moved to the left (Fig. 1) the fin feeds the depressed seamridge. After the hammer 19 reaches its extreme position of movement to the left in contact with the work, the hammer 19, together with the fin 57, is elevated from the work, returns out of contact with the work to its extreme position to the right (Fig. 1), and is then lowered into engagement with the work. As soon as that portion of the seam-ridge which has been depressed by the fin 57 escapes beyond the ends of the guides 22 and 23, the compressed walls of the groove formed by the fin spring outwardly. Upon the next down stroke of the hammer 19, the fin 57 steps on another portion of the laterally confined but unsupported from below seam-ridge, and the hammer 19 strikes the walls of the groove, previously formed by the fin 5'7, but now unconfined laterally by the seam-ridge guide, and rolls them, together with the upper portions of the flaps 16 and 17, outwardly into engagement with the adjacent faces of the work pieces, (Fig. 5).

The formation of the groove by the fin 5'7, the rolling of the walls of the groove and the fiaps l6 and 17 outwardly by the hammer and the four-motion feeding movements thereof continue until the seam-ridge passes beyond their influence. In the meantime, the portion of the seam-ridge previously operated upon by the hammer 19 is fed beneath the heated tool 20 which rubs and sets the seam in the position to which it has been brought by the hammer 19.

Nothing herein explained is to be interpreted as limiting the various features of the present invention in the scope of its application to use in connection with the particular machine or the particular mode of operation or both selected for purposes of illustration and explanation. While the particulars of construction herein set forth are well suited to one mechanical form of the invention and to the use to which it is put, it is not limited to this use, nor to these details of construction, nor to the conjoint use of all its features, nor is it to be understood that these particulars are essential since they may be modified within the skill of the artisan without departing from the true scope of the actual invention, characterizing features of which are set forth in the following claims by the intentional use of generic terms and expressions inclusive of various modifications.

What is claimed as new, is:

1. In a seam-pressing machine, the combination with a work support over which is fed work in the form of two fabric pieces sewed together by a seam presenting an upstanding seam-ridge on one face of the work and a seam-crease on the other face of the work, a seam-presser cooperating with the work support to press the seam, means for maintaining the lower portion of the seam-ridge in an upstanding condition with the inside faces of the flaps pressed together, and means for preforming the maintained upstanding portion of the seam ridge, of means for sep-- arating the upper portions of the flaps to allow the preforming means to reach and operate upon the maintained upstanding portion of the seamridge.

2. In a seam-pressing machine, the combination with a work support over which is fed work in the form of two fabric pieces sewed together by a seam presenting an upstanding seam-ridge on one face of the work and a seam-crease on the other face of the work, a seam-presser cooperating with the work support to press the seam, means for supporting the seam-crease to a point spaced from the work support and the seam-presser, means for maintaining the lower portion of the seam-ridge in an upstanding condition with the inside faces of the flaps pressed together, means operating upon that portion of the seam-ridge which extends, confined laterally but unsupported from below, from the seam-crease support to the work support, of means for separating the upper portions of the flaps to allow the operating means to reach the maintained upstanding portion of the seam-ridge.

3. In a seam-pressing machine, the combination with seam-ridge guides arranged to embrace the lower portion of the seam-ridge just above the seam and maintain it in an upstanding condition with the inside faces of the seam-ridge flaps pressed together, of a flap separator arranged to separate only the portion of the fiaps extending above the lines of engagement of the seam-ridge guides.

4. In a seam-pressing machine, the combination with seam-ridge guides arranged to embrace the lower portion of the seam-ridge just above the seam and maintain it in an upstanding condition with the inside faces of the fiaps pressed together, of a flap separator having a nose arranged in advance of the seam-ridge guides and having a rearwardly extending arris terminating in advance of the rear ends of the guides.

5. In a seam-pressing machine, the combination with seam-ridge guides arranged to embrace the lower portion of the seam-ridge just above the seam and maintain it in an upstanding condition With the inside faces of the flaps pressed together, each guide having a narrow work engaging face, a sloping face and a ledge interposed between them, of a flap separator having a nose arranged in advance of the seam-ridge guides and having a rearwardly extending arris arranged in the same horizontal plane as the horizontal portion of the ledge terminating in advance of the rear ends of they guides.

6. In a seam-pressing machine, the combination with seam-ridge guides arranged to embrace the lower portion of the seam-ridge just above the seam and maintain it in an upstanding condition with the inside faces of the fiaps pressed together, each guide having a narrow work engaging face, a sloping face and a ledge interposed between them, of a flap separator having a nose arranged in advance of the seam-ridge guides and having a rearwardly extending arris arranged in the same horizontal plane as the horizontal portion of the ledge terminating in a flattened horizontal portion terminating in advance of the rear ends of the guides.

7. In a seam-rubbing machine, a guide comprising a nose at its front end and converging faces extending rearwardly therefrom terminating in a flattened horizontal portion at the rear end of the guide, all cooperating to guide fabric seam-ridges, said flattened horizontal portion only engaging the free end edge face of leather seam-ridges.

RAYMOND J. HOLMES. 

